Dhaka: An absconding leader of Bangladesh's
opposition party BNP is among seven persons charged on Tuesday with the
2015 murder of an Italian aid worker here in 2015 by the Islamic State
militant outfit.

Cesare Tavella, 50, was shot dead in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave,
Gulshan, on September 28 last year. BNP leader MA Quayum and his brother
Abdul Matin along with five others were charged on Tuesday by a court
in Dhaka in connection with the case, Daily Star reported.

Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court
fixed November 24 for starting the trial in the case. Matin and four
others, who are now in jail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice
after the judges read out the charges against them. Quayum is still on
the run. Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the murder of
Tavella soon after the killing.

Police believes the murder was a conspiracy to destabilise the
government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, the opposition
says the indictment of Quayum, who is believed to be living in exile in
Malaysia, is the conspiracy of the government to tarnish its image.